“So, do you think you’d like something like that?”
She gazed out the window at the children meandering around the playground equipment. “What about kids?”
“Well, yeah. They’d come, too.”
She turned back to him and he read the sorrow in her eyes. “I meant…what about…” she trailed off, unable to say what her heart so dearly wanted to know.
Savage sobered and sat upright. “Wait. You mean like…our kids?”
She looked away and nodded. “I know you’re gay and all, but—”
“Woah! Back up the truck.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her attention back to him. “What do you mean, gay?”
She swallowed hard and stared at him with wide eyes. “I haven’t told anybody, Savage. I swear. Nobody knows that we don’t…”
He slid from the tiny dinette and paced. “You mean to tell me you think I’m queer? Because I haven’t—”
“It’s okay! I promise.” She quickly lowered her voice and took his hands to keep him from pacing the small area. “I haven’t told a soul.” She probed his face for understanding. “I just…I want kids one day.”
“Okay.” He looked at her expectantly.
“And if you’re into guys…I was just hoping you’d still let me…you know.”
He stiffened and his eyes bulged. “Look, I am not gay.”
She nodded furiously. “Okay, sure. I believe you.”
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. “I mean it. I am not gay.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care if you are. Really. I understand completely. My cousin is gay and…well, he was. I don’t know if he’s still alive.”
“But I’m not.” He planted his hands on his hips and stared down at her.
She studied him for a moment, then her face fell. “If you’re not gay…then…” She choked slightly and turned away from him. “Am I that hideous to you?”
Savage could have been knocked over with a feather. He stared at the back of her head and he felt his jaw working, but no words would come out. He heard her sob and he did the only thing he could think to do. He pulled her to him and wrapped his huge arms around her.
He held her and felt her crying in his arms. It broke something inside him and he turned her around to face him. He lifted her chin and stared at her tear- and snot-covered face. He wiped at her cheek with the back of his hand and whispered softly, “You’re the most beautiful gal I’ve ever seen.”
She looked up to him, hopeful. “Then why won’t you…”
He shushed her and pulled her into another embrace. “It’s not that I don’t want to.” He sighed and stroked her hair while he tried to think of the right words. “You’re not property.”
She stiffened slightly and pulled away from him. “What?”
He stumbled over the words as his exhausted mind tried to search for the right ones. “Simon gave you to me. That’s not…that’s not the way things are done. You’re not a thing. You’re a person. With feelings and—”
“And what?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“And, I would want you to care about me before we…,” he trailed off, the right words refusing to come.
She actually snorted when she laughed and she pulled him tight. He could feel her body shaking against his own and he wasn’t sure if it was laughing or crying.
“Stella?” He pushed her back so he could see her face. “You okay?”
She nodded and covered her mouth. She fell into the dinette and wiped at her face, laughter still slipping past her.
“What’s so funny?”
She shook her head. “All this time, I thought you must be gay. And you only kept me around so the others wouldn’t know.”
“No.” He sat across from her. “I really like you. I just…” He clenched his jaw and ground his teeth. “It felt like I would be forcing you if we did anything. You deserve better than that.”
She stood on the cushion and crawled across the tiny table. She grabbed him by both sides of the face and pulled him to her for a deep, passionate kiss.
Savage was shocked and stared at her with wide eyes. He leaned forward slightly and kissed her back. When she pulled away, she was still fighting back the laughter.
“Am I a funny kisser?” he mocked.
She shook her head. “I’m just happy. I laugh when I’m happy.”
He pulled away from her and stared hard into her eyes. “Why didn’t you just say something?”
“Why didn’t you?” She leaned back on her heels and he felt the table threaten to tip. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to be with you? I was afraid you didn’t like me.”
He shook his head and lowered his eyes. “I didn’t want to hurt you.” He swallowed hard. “I swore I’d protect you from that kind of pain.”
She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “I asked Simon to give me to you.” She saw the surprise as it crossed his features. “I thought you were hot and I knew I’d be safe with you.” She leaned over and kissed him again. “I just didn’t think I was going to be that safe.”
He growled low in his throat and scooped her from the table. “You’re not safe any longer.” He carried her to the bedroom and tossed her unceremoniously onto the mattress.
She looked up at him with a feral ferocity in her eyes. “It’s about damned time.”
Charles’ eyes snapped open and he struggled with the leather restraints holding him to the gurney. “What the hell is going on here?” He pulled until the veins popped out on his forehead and his skin began to tear near the edge of the strap.
“Doctor, you need to calm down,” a large man in white scrubs ordered. “You’ve been infected.”
“Like hell, you idiot!” Charles pulled at the other strap and his face began turning red with the strain. He collapsed on the mattress, panting. “If I were infected, I’d be trying to eat your face, you wingnut!”
The large man reached for his chart and pulled it up to his face. He
